Gonioscopy is an eye examination that is very useful and effective in monitoring and diagnosing various eye conditions associated in particular to glaucoma; it is used by ophthalmologists and optometrists as a primary examination for glaucomatous patients; typically, it is carried out through the use of an indirect gonioscopic lens.
The instruments that are commercially available at present have some drawbacks. They allow only human interpretation. They allow to observe only few and/or limited portions of an iridocorneal zone of an eye; therefore, if an ophthalmologist wants to observe the entire iridocorneal site, he must apply and remove the instrument, in direct contact with the patient eye. Moreover, this contact procedure implies several risks, including corneal scratches, and requires a skilled operator to be carried out; the entire process also requires a careful sterilization of the instrument and to anaesthetize the patient eye.